Cory Lee Woodard of LaFayette is a winner in the 2016-2017 Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Competition, taking the gold award for Best Travel Blog for his website Curb Free with Cory Lee. The annual competition is sponsored by the Society of American Travel Writers Foundation.
Winners of the awards, the most prestigious in the field of travel journalism, were announced Monday at the SATW convention, held in Portland, Or., this year.
The competition drew 1,190 entries and was judged by members of the faculty at the University of Missouri School of Journalism. This year, the SATW Foundation presented 89 awards in 24 categories and nearly $20,000 in prize money to journalists. The awards are named for Lowell Thomas, acclaimed broadcast journalist, prolific author and world explorer during five decades in journalism.
In honoring Mr. Woodard's work, the judges said: "Travel isn’t — and shouldn’t be — only for the able-bodied. Curb Free with Cory Lee is a treasure of useful information on wheelchair-accessible locales and attractions. From reviewing hotel rooms to hiking in the Amazon and up Masada, making the most of a tiny airplane seat and introducing other travelers rolling around the globe, this blog will leave everyone inspired to take off and try it all."
Among other winners, Christopher Reynolds, travel writer with the Los Angeles Times, earned the title of Lowell Thomas Travel Journalist of the Year for a portfolio of his work in the past year. The New York Times took 12 awards, including Gold for best Newspaper Travel Coverage and two other gold places.
The Foundation distributes nearly $20,000 annually in prize money to individual winners. Contributions by Gold Supporter Carnival Corp. and other donors help sustain the competition and make prizes possible to recognize outstanding work in travel journalism.
For more information about the awards, including a full list of winners and judges’ comments, and SATW, visit www.satwf.com and www.satw.org.